Buy it... if you demand a satisfying conclusion to an incredible
trilogy of music, the third entry a highly engaging and accessible
experience with a clear narrative.

Avoid it... if you become frustrated when franchises replace
existing themes with new ones where not entirely necessary, John Powell
diminishing some old favorites here without really needing to do so.

EDITORIAL REVIEW

FILMTRACKS TRAFFIC RANK: #1,890

WRITTEN
3/24/19

BUY IT

Powell

How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World: (John
Powell/Various) It may not be the most successful animated franchise by
most measures, but the "How to Train Your Dragon" concept has thrived on
screens big and small during the 2010's because of its genuinely hearty
and adventurous qualities. After the success of the original theatrical
How to Train Your Dragon adaptation from novels in 2010, a
franchise of several short films, television show, and video games
followed, joined by two additional feature films that culminated in
2019's How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World. The world of
Berk and its societal relations between Vikings and dragons may have
lost some steam by the third motion picture, sustained critical praise
met with a touch of fatigue from viewers as the filmmakers sought to
devise a definitive conclusion to the original set of characters in one
final installment. The second two films are not without a fair dose of
sadness, the concepts of separation and loneliness remaining to temper
the airy fantasy at the series' core. An inevitable segregation of
humans and dragons awaits in How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden
World after years of the two species living in relative peace at the
humans' town of Berk. As in previous stories, evil human dragon hunters
once again spoil the utopic endeavors, forcing the dragons into
seclusion and necessitating depressing goodbyes between the series' main
characters. Despite rotating between distributors for each film, the
stylistic voice of the world of Berk and dragons remains intact, and
much of that consistency is maintained by John Powell's exemplary music
across all of the films. His work, led by three exuberant main themes of
friendship and flying, has become recognizable to children worldwide and
has developed into the most famous musical anthem used generally by
DreamWorks in advertisements for its lineup of animated properties. The
quality of Powell's masterful music for these films lies not in the
complexity of his thematic constructs but rather in his ability to
develop these easily digestible ideas in a myriad of settings. Like the
franchises of The Lord of the Rings and Star Wars, the
How to Train Your Dragon scores offer constant repetition and
development of dozens of themes. Their uniqueness stems from a playful,
Celtic-influenced personality holding it all together.

For How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World,
Powell audaciously added a plethora of new themes to an equation already
stuffed with favorites from the prior two movies. He enlisted three
ghostwriters to assist him in this endeavor on the majority of cues,
utilizing Batu Sener more frequently than Paul Mounsey or Anthony
Willis. But attribution of all the new themes points back to Powell
himself, and the composer handled the film's later emotional scenes on
his own. The composer's phenomenal handling of themes in Solo: A Star
Wars Story the previous year was an unattainable benchmark of
success for motific interpolation, and while How to Train Your
Dragon: The Hidden World exudes similar intelligence and forethought
in its handling of its own franchise's identities, the end result is
slightly less satisfactory. While it's always good to add new themes to
the formula for any sequel, Powell may have gone too far in this third
film for the tastes of some listeners, marginalizing prior identities
or, in some cases, casting them aside completely at moments when they
could have appealed once again. Still, the new themes offer strengths of
their own, the score benefitting from Powell's consistent spotting of an
idea in various guises at nearly all moments. The instrumentation,
meanwhile, is less overtly Celtic than at the franchise's origins.
Enthusiasts of these tones, and especially the pipes, will appreciate
that Powell extends their usage in "Exodus!," "Third Date" and, to
lesser degrees, in the conclusive cues. Woodwind solos continue to carry
much of the emotional luggage, flutes and clarinets shining
particularly. A comparative lack of action in How to Train Your
Dragon: The Hidden World yields potential disappointment for
listeners expecting extended sequences of brassy bombast, the long
"Armada Battle" cue really the score's only such highlight. Choral
applications fall closer to traditional notions of Viking bravado,
Powell extending his male choral presence for Drago in How to Train
Your Dragon 2 here as an almost too-similar representation of
equally troublesome dragon hunter Grimmel the Grisly. Relying upon new
thematic ideas for the villains, dragons, another human settlement,
fresh heroism, and a general notion of destiny, the score for How to
Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World applies familiar instrumental
colors to its debuting attributions without capturing the same romantic
sense of awe and wonder as the previous entries.

For some listeners, the diminishment of overwhelming
romanticism and uproarious, sustained action in How to Train Your
Dragon: The Hidden World, especially as it relates to Powell's
existing themes, may disappoint. But perspective is necessary, as the
film's plot, essentially devised as one long series of interactions
meant to soften the blow of the goodbyes at the end, doesn't provide the
score ample opportunity to either soar or exhilarate at frequent
intervals. Clearly cognizant of this conundrum, however, was Powell, for
he did make it something of a mission to address nearly all of his
existing themes at least once here, even if briefly. Roughly two-dozen
themes are conveyed, most of which heard in the cues available on the
official album. Ten or so of these ideas carry over from the previous
scores, and they compete with more than a dozen new ones that occupy
most of the work's running time. No new identity can compete with
Powell's trio of friendship and flying themes from the first film, and
the composer is careful to bookend the third film with these fan
favorites. The descending friendship motif of the franchise has become
its go-to fanfare, bursting with energy and representing all the
youthful excitement of the concept. Capping two of the first score's
other main themes at 4:59 into "Raiders Return to Busy, Busy Berk," the
idea is hinted on harp at 0:47 into "New 'New Tail'" and is skittish on
strings at 1:55 and 6:22 into "Armada Battle." It returns to its
introductory fanfare form at 1:09 into "As Long as He's Safe" and its
appropriately familiar romantic allure (reprising pivotal vocal and
percussion shades from the first film) at 3:10 into "Once There Were
Dragons" on its way to announcing the trilogy's conclusion at 4:06,
5:06, and 5:33 in that cue. Both the phrases of Powell's legacy flying
theme are employed, though the primary one is saved mostly for the end.
Touched upon briefly as a subdued low choral fragment at 0:45 into "With
Love Comes a Great Waterfall," this main theme receives rousing
renditions at 1:18 into "As Long as He's Safe" and 4:12 into "Once There
Were Dragons." Its companion phrase is more frequently applied here, and
it takes on almost an anthemic personality by the end. Its snare-ripping
optimism reaffirms its fan-favorite status at 4:46 into "Raiders Return
to Busy, Busy Berk" and extends to an accelerated version at 1:03 into
"New 'New Tail'" before returning to its full stature at 1:34 into "As
Long as He's Safe." Its use in "Once There Were Dragons" is particularly
satisfactory, the idea applied as choral counterpoint at 2:56 before
maturing to strong brass at 4:27 and a full-ensemble send-off at
5:14.

Among the dispiriting developments of How to Train Your
Dragon: The Hidden World is the story's shift away from Berk and
associated Viking culture as seen in the first film, a change partly
reflected by Powell in his music. The composer knows that his original
Berk/Viking theme, a momentous presence early in the franchise, has
limited opportunity to shine in this installment, so he offers it two
full statements of glory at 4:19 into "Raiders Return to Busy, Busy
Berk." The ingenuity of the culture and Hiccup himself are reprised in
the cute throwback cue, "New 'New Tail'" (at 0:38 and 0:55), and
throughout "Armada Battle" (sadly subdued at 0:00, briefly but with zeal
at 2:54, and in its full choral interlude at 5:00). Also fleeting in its
applications, sometimes oddly, is Powell's love theme for Astrid,
alternately a more romantic flying identity. It's confined to moments
like 3:29 into the gorgeously melancholy "Legend Has It/Cliffside
Playtime" and twice in "Armada Battle," where it explodes with full
ensemble relief at 3:46 and 7:00. From How to Train Your Dragon 2
return two ideas explicitly, including the "Lost and Found" theme most
prominently. Often associated with Hiccup's family, this identity is
expressed first on soft woodwinds and choir at 0:06 into "With Love
Comes a Great Waterfall" before taking momentous turns at 2:10 and 5:36
into "Armada Battle." The theme is influential in "As Long as He's Safe"
as well, its dramatic choral performances at 0:46 and 5:06 bracketing a
contemplative rendition for flute and piano at 4:25. Its companion
motif, representing responsibility and loss, returns at 1:53 into
"Legend Has It/Cliffside Playtime" and is as lovely as ever. Other
motifs from the first score are reprised in How to Train Your Dragon:
The Hidden World, though their impact is muted. This holds true for
most of the dragon-related motifs, one comical take continuing at 5:06
into "Raiders Return to Busy, Busy Berk." Likewise, the lighthearted
identity for Hiccup and his silly friends is reduced to only a solemn
performance on piano at 1:47 into "Once There Were Dragons." Powell does
not introduce new themes for these concepts explicitly, but he does
offer a wide enough breadth of fresh identities to accompany their
general purposes. The dragons' themes have been condensed into several
motifs to represent the two leads of their kind, the Berk theme is
displaced by a new one for another island, the flying and friendship
themes are supplanted by new heroic alternatives, and other major new
locations and characters are afforded appropriate ideas of their own.
The inclusion of a theme and submotif for fate ties all of them together
by the end.

Powell explicitly identified names for his new themes in
How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World, and the attributions
are fairly straightforward. He concentrates the most on a set of themes
and motifs for the two lead dragons, the furies consisting of Toothless
and Light Fury in a clear exhibit of support for interracial sex by
DreamWorks. The primary identity for this pair is constructed of two
sections often found apart from each other but most satisfying when
together. The first phrase is heard initially on woodwinds at 0:49 into
"Toothless: Smitten" before recurring at 1:35 and 2:13. The second, more
fluidly romantic phrase exists in that cue at 1:09 and 2:24, though the
first of those is fragmented and interrupted. The theme's two parts are
on full, lush display in the propulsive "Exodus!," the opening phrase
expressed at 2:35 and 3:07 while the accompanying answer follows at 2:44
and 3:15. These performances are, in many ways, the best for the theme
in the film. The opening phrase is more tentative at 5:29 and 6:04 into
"Third Date" while the secondary phrase swoons at 6:11. A flute conveys
the primary phrase only at 0:14 into "New 'New Tail'," while the strings
do the same at 0:36 into "Furies in Love." That cue playfully develops
this new love theme material in sometimes robust incarnations; the main
phrase at 1:04 and 1:48, joined by the secondary phrase at 1:16 and
2:03, are performed with surprisingly muscular brass layers over
constant metallic percussion. The secondary phrase appears alone at 1:30
into "Killer Dragons" while the primary phrase explodes with tragedy at
2:20 into "Armada Battle" and finds relief as it closes the cue at 8:26.
The pair of phrases join again with redemption at 2:03 and 2:16 into "As
Long as He's Safe." Powell concludes the score with a brief reference of
the idea at 4:51 into "Once There Were Dragons." Meanwhile, the composer
created a pair of lesser motifs for the two dragons that weave into many
of the same cues. One is a lighter affair that replaces equivalent ideas
from previous scores, and it has some similarities to Jerry Goldsmith's
writing. Very briefly foreshadowed at 3:52 into "Raiders Return to Busy,
Busy Berk," this motif of curiosity and intrigue is fully introduced at
0:10 into "Toothless: Smitten" and returns at 1:23. It opens both "Third
Date" and "Furies in Love," both softly setting the mood for the more
major themes. A playful mating motif exists separately at 2:12 into
"Toothless: Smitten" and at 0:40 and 4:41 into "Third Date," where the
idea is expressed with fun staccato figures. The underlying rhythm
informs the start of "New 'New Tail'" and transitions into a full action
motif at 4:53 into "Armada Battle."

For the hidden world sanctuary awaiting the dragons in
How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World, Powell supplies a
quasi-religious theme of majestic scope. It begins with humble origins,
solo flute exploring the melody at 3:00 into "Legend Has It/Cliffside
Playtime." The theme expectedly lies dormant until a wondrous expression
at 2:32 into "Furies in Love" and, more impressively, at its formal
introduction in full at 1:30 into "With Love Comes a Great Waterfall,"
where Powell's brass and choral combination is not to be missed. The
idea occupies much of "The Hidden World" (2:22, 2:51, 3:42) before a
resolute performance with enhanced percussion graces "As Long as He's
Safe" at 5:38; listen for the fantastic exotic woodwind shades to close
out this performance. Two lighter renditions await at 2:15 and 2:44 into
"Once There Were Dragons." Among the more curious choices made by Powell
in the score is the replacement of the Berk/Viking theme with a fresh
village hymn to represent the new island inhabited by the characters.
The composer chose not to evolve the Berk theme but rather provide a
malleable new identity, a questionable move given that for some
listeners, the existing melody could be the connecting tissue of the
whole franchise. The idea is foreshadowed lightly at the start of
"Dinner Talk/Grimmel's Introduction" and at 1:20 and 2:30 into "Legend
Has It/Cliffside Playtime." It receives almost comical personality from
lower woodwinds at 0:04 in "Worst Pep Talk Ever." Its highlights come in
"Exodus!," where the upbeat optimism of the Berk theme carries over to
its successor at 1:06 and 3:37. A brief choral performance at 4:13 into
"Killer Dragons" is matched by a single phrase at 5:22 into "Armada
Battle." The idea is provided a solemn choral personality at the outset
of "Once There Were Dragons," though by 0:59 in that cue, the full
Celtic flair of the earlier Berk theme transitions to this new one.
Likewise, the new heroic themes of this score are a questionable
replacement for existing identities. These three new related motifs all
thrive in "Raiders Return to Busy, Busy Berk," the most prominent of
which occurring at 0:47, 1:06, 2:38, and 2:50 into the cue, the last
performance providing melodramatic swing to the idea. Listen for this
motif to persist at 1:19 into "Killer Dragons." More memorable is a
stirring, relatively unused alternative at 3:27 into "Raiders Return to
Busy, Busy Berk" that returns twice prominently (6:35, 7:20) in "Armada
Battle." The third heroic motif is softly heard at 1:43 into "Raiders
Return to Busy, Busy Berk" but really makes an impression at 1:24 and
1:42 into "Exodus!" These three motifs never really congeal into a
singular, major new theme.

The concept of fate receives its own theme and submotif
in How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World, an acknowledgement
of the trilogy's need to devise a relatively sad but appropriately
"realistic" ending. The idea seems underplayed in tone compared to all
the other themes. Opening "Legend Has It/Cliffside Playtime" with lovely
flute and choir, the theme's most memorable moment comes early in
"Exodus!," where its resolute stature builds to a vintage Hans
Zimmer-like crescendo in the first minute. The idea returns much later,
at 4:48 into "The Hidden World," as a cap to the action of that scene. A
more determined rhythmic submotif exists for the theme, heard
prominently at 1:01 into "With Love Comes a Great Waterfall" and on
flute at 3:14 into "The Hidden World." The two join forces in "Armada
Battle;" after the melody itself builds to an elegant performance at
0:36, the theme and its submotif coincide nicely at 5:58. The
performance of this theme at 2:51 into "As Long as He's Safe," starting
with harp and generating a deep, yearning crescendo with choir, is
interesting in that it supplants the franchise's love theme for Astrid
at a time when it could have made at least a token appearance. Powell
includes one last reference to this theme at 4:45 into "Once There Were
Dragons" alongside the main furies theme. The villain of How to Train
Your Dragon: The Hidden World receives a theme all too similar in
tone to Drago's from the previous entry, but it proves itself extremely
adaptable here. Powell created a "March of the Warlords" as an
introduction to Grimmel's formal theme; the former explodes twice in
full (the opening of the entire score and again at 0:45 into "Dinner
Talk/Grimmel's Introduction"). Its stomping, percussive and male chanted
tone is highly reminiscent of the slightly more flamboyant and sparsely
realized Viktor Krum material from Patrick Doyle's Harry Potter and
Goblet of Fire. Its main, underlying three-note phrase becomes a
secondary factor in Grimmel's actual theme and frequently accompanies
the character. This usage is not surprising given the composer's
tendency to use triplets liberally in these scores, especially on brass,
though his harsh, lower brass renderings of the idea will remind some
listeners of his adaptation of John Williams' existing imperial motif in
Solo: A Star Wars Story. The fuller expressions of "March of the
Warlords" are among the score's most enticing moments, even if they
remind of Drago's forceful presence from How to Train Your Dragon
2 a tad too much (but without the Arabian progressions), and it's a
shame that greater hints of this material could not have persisted in
some way later in the score.

The actual applications of Grimmel's theme in How to
Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World announce the idea in full at
1:06 and 1:57 into "Dinner Talk/Grimmel's Introduction" and dissolve to
ominous, low woodwind and string allusions starting at 1:07 into "Worst
Pep Talk Ever." Most of "Night Fury Killer" is occupied with this theme,
and it culminates in a victorious, cymbal-crashing expression over
trilling brass at 2:46. In a show of Powell's creativity, the theme
transforms into the upbeat environment of "Exodus!" at 1:51, where it
effectively mingles with the new hero material. An almost humorous
interlude for the theme follows in that cue at 4:08. The idea is again
developed extensively in "Killer Dragons," with another robust
expression of brassy dread at 2:05. It interrupts the beauty of "The
Hidden World" amongst frantic action at 4:25 and is heard at regular
intervals in "Armada Battle" (1:30, 3:10, 7:39). All of the main new
themes in the score were assembled into an end credits suite available only on
the digital version of the album; in "The Hidden World Suite," you hear
pieces of "Furies in Love," "Exodus!," and "The Hidden World" assembled
together in a different mix and containing a unique ending for the
hidden world theme. Both the digital and physical albums contain the
song, "Together From Afar," by franchise regular Jonsi; the Icelandic
musician's song here does not contain any of the score's themes and is
generally weaker, though the performer can be heard contributing to the
score's "The Hidden World" cue, which offers uniquely styled vocals that
take the place of the hypnotically pulsating string effect from the
prior score as this entry's most strident deviation from the norm.
Ultimately, How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World is an
extremely strong score but, with its unnecessary bevy of new themes, a
step behind its predecessors. There continues to be moments of
brilliance on display by Powell, especially in his solo cues. The
thematic layering of the protagonist melodies over the villain's rhythm
and tone at the outset of "As Long as He's Safe" is remarkable. The
handling of old and new themes together in quick succession at the
conclusion of "Once There Were Dragons" is also fantastic. By comparison
to the prior two entries, this work may merit only four stars from some
listeners, but when judged on the complexity of its own ideas and
excused for a relative lack of robust action because of the plot, you
cannot help but award it the full five stars. The CD album is not
perfect, as it is missing the suite and about 20 minutes of material
from the score, but it is nevertheless a highly engaging and listenable
experience with a clear narrative. For Powell collectors and concept
enthusiasts, especially, it's a satisfying conclusion to an incredible
trilogy of music. *****@Amazon.com: CD or
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Bias Check:

For John Powell reviews at Filmtracks, the average editorial rating is 3.18
(in 45 reviews)and the average viewer rating is 3.11
(in 47,456 votes). The maximum rating is 5 stars.